I saw some woodpeckers and dark-eyed juncos from my kitchen window today, but only mallards and gulls while we were out on our walk today. It was very windy, and though I heard what sounded like a downy woodpecker peep, I never saw it. We have a few bald eagles around here, and I got a glimpse of one of … Read more

The much-maligned brown-headed cowbird is a common urban bird, but easy to miss. The males are black with glossy brown heads whose color is hard to see outside of direct sunlight. The females are brown. Neither are much bigger than house sparrows. Read more …

A sparrow is a sparrow is a sparrow…. Or is it? I saw house sparrows on my walk today, but I also saw a song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) and white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis). Here’s how to tell the difference.

I learned about American woodpeckers at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History today by studying skeletons at Bone Hall and visiting the extinction display in The Last American Dinosaurs exhibit. Read more …

I was just complaining yesterday about how the Carolina wrens are difficult to get photos of because they spend so much time in the leaf litter, only hopping out onto the base of a tree trunk long enough for me to point my camera at them before immediately disappearing into the leaf litter once more. Read more …

Nuthatches are not woodpeckers, though they eat a similar diet of insects gathered from tree bark, along with nuts and seeds. They also hop around a lot like woodpeckers—probably more so. This inspired me to invent a game called “Find the White-Breasted Nuthatch.” Read the post to play.

The northern flicker doesn’t have “woodpecker” in its name, but it is one. And what a distinctive one! Although the black-and-white stripes on its tail are reminiscent of other woodpeckers’ black-and-white checks, it’s polka-dotted breast is what makes it stand out among birds. Quite fashion-forward. Read more …

It was well below freezing today. I went outside with every bit of skin covered except for the area right around my eyes, since seeing is useful. But it was still a good day for birding. I saw three new species for me—a yellow-bellied sapsucker, a Carolina wren, and a northern mockingbird—and also a pileated woodpecker, which I’ve seen before but never at home. Read more …